I can’t believe it’s been two months since we moved to Yorkshire! I figured I would do a bit of an update on how things have been so far. We’ve been settling in nicely, getting used to the local area. It’s honestly so nice where we are. We love taking Aidan for long walks through the local villages, passing farms and seeing horses. It’s such a nice change from our old walks in London; always on the high road, inhaling car fumes as we walked by lol! So the fresh air is just wonderful. I feel like I can breathe better (both literally and figuratively) since we’ve moved.
I bring Aidan to the park almost daily. He absolutely loves it! Mind you, he’s still a bit young for a lot of the things there, but he loves just running around, and picking flowers (and then giving them to me, which pretty much always chokes me up). It absolutely melts my heart watching him have so much fun. And now that things are starting to open up more, I cannot wait to plan days out with Aidan.
I do find the pace of life different up there. Everything just seems much more relaxed than in London. I do miss it sometimes, but I just feel so good up here. I’ve been getting outside more and exercising more which is doing loads for my mental health. When I think about it, this move has completed shifted my mindset in so many different ways. It’s definitely been the right decision for our little family.
We’re still in Steve’s mom’s house at the moment. We are purchasing a house a couple of villages over, but the process has taken a bit longer than we anticipated. Still, though, good things come to those who wait, I suppose! We are at the tail-end of the process, which I am so thankful for. We have a pre-emptive date that everyone in the chain is working towards, so we’re just waiting for official confirmation from the solicitors that we can actually go ahead. I hope we have it this week because we have A LOT of things to prepare! So for now we’re just holding tight (and okay, I may be buying a few things here and there!).
MY SWEATER | AIDAN’S DUNGAREES (sold out – similar here)
The only somewhat sad update is that I still have yet to see my family. I was actually meant to be flying back with Aidan for my cousin’s wedding in June but that’s not happening anymore. I found out that Aidan needs his American passport to enter the country, which he doesn’t have yet. The embassy closed when he was three months old, so we had no chance to do that while in London. It’s so ridiculous, if I’m honest. I was told that because he has the right to American citizenship, he MUST enter the country on that; if I try to take him in on his British passport, I was told he could be refused entry. So basically they told me it might be fine, or it might not. Obviously I don’t want to take that chance, so I had to make the painful decision of canceling that trip. The embassy is starting to open up, so hopefully I can get an appointment booked for that so we don’t have to worry about this issue in the future! For now, we’re planning on my parents and siblings coming sometime this summer, which I cannot wait for! I know I moan about it all the time, but the pandemic really has robbed us of so much time together.
MY JACKET | AIDAN’S JACKET & SHOES
Oh, and we finally got to York this past weekend! It was absolutely amazing. The last time we were there was quite a few years ago right after Steve and I got married (I wrote a blog post all about it here). I was so nervous about going; I didn’t know what to expect. After being in lockdown for so long the thought of being out and about in a city made me incredibly anxious. But when we got there, that fear disappeared completely. It was so nice walking around and feeling a tiny sense of normality. I feel so reinvigorated after that trip!
The blog has taken a bit of a hit, due to everything else going on (as you can tell by the lack of blog posts lately). In the past, I probably would have beat myself up about it a bit but life has been so chaotic lately, that I’m learning to give myself a bit of grace. I do have a bit of content planned for when we actually get in the house, so that’s something. I’m so excited to get stuck in and get decorating and get some DIY posts up hopefully. If there’s anything you want to to see on the blog (or even just want to say hi!), leave me a comment or email me at lauren@realityinreverie.com.
So yea, that’s where we’re at with everything now! Hope you’re all well and enjoying spring and all of it’s new beginnings.
xx Lauren
It’s so lovely to hear you are settling into your ‘new life in the country’ so well! I totally get what you’re saying when you say things are more ‘relaxed’ than in London, I find that every time I leave the city, even if it’s just to go and see my parents in Oxford, and it’s amazing the impact that gentle change in pace can have.